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In recent decades, air power has been NATO’s first, and sometimes only, military response to a threat. But tightened budgets and dwindling resources are placing air power in a death spiral driven by declining readiness, a shrinking force structure and an ever-smaller residual fighting capacity, say NATO’s foremost experts on air and space power.

The U.S. Army, which purchases vast numbers of tactical radios, will no longer do so through sole-source contracting, vows Maj. Gen. Daniel Hughes, USA, PEO-C3T. Competing every single contract is designed to create a radio marketplace that fosters innovation while saving time and money.

The next big cyber attack likely will strike critical infrastructure assets in the United States, which could bring the world’s remaining superpower to its knees, according to cybersecurity experts. This would constitute a crippling assault against national assets such as power facilities, transportation networks, nuclear plants or the drinking water supply, these experts warn.

An intelligence network being developed at the Pentagon will enable military leaders to monitor disasters as they happen. The network will provide a common operating picture, allowing officials to better plan for and react to events adversely affecting the critical infrastructure and the military mission.

As scientists sleuth to enhance U.S. military air mission capabilities through automation and alternative technologies, some in the Office of Naval Research want to find ways for aircraft—manned or unmanned—to operate in even the worst kinds of weather. Experts are exploring how these vehicles could function in the most unfavorable conditions.

The U.S. Air Force is striving to become a multi-domain warfighting unit in the air, in space and in cyber, according to its chief information officer. However, attaining the same degree of supremacy in cyber that it currently enjoys in the air domain may prove a far more daunting task.